Algae being one of the dominant organisms in nature can provide best opportunity for the discovery of new anti-cancer drugs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic potential of the brown marine alga Chnoospora minima. The methanol extract of C. minima and its bioactive fraction (CF4) have highly significant cytotoxic effects to HepG2, HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. The fraction’s ability to induce apoptosis in the cancer cells was evidenced by increased caspase activity (caspase-3, 7 and 10), DNA fragmentation pattern and upregulated expressions of Bax and p53 genes. The bioactive fraction was not toxic to human peripheral lymphocytes. HPLC, ESI-MS and GC-MS analysis of CF4 fraction indicated the presence of the compound hexadecanoic acid which might be responsible for the observed anti-cancer activity of C. minima. The methanol extract of C. minima exhibited anti-angiogenic effects on chick embryos. It can be concluded that fraction, CF4, from C. minima is a promising source of an anti-cancer lead molecule.

中文翻译：

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褐海藻小孢子藻的抗血管生成和凋亡潜力

藻类是自然界中的优势生物之一，可以为发现新的抗癌药物提供最佳机会。本研究的目的是调查棕色海藻小孢子虫的抗癌和抗血管生成的潜力。最小梭菌的甲醇提取物及其生物活性级分（CF4）对HepG2，HeLa和MCF-7癌细胞系具有非常显着的细胞毒性作用。该部分在癌细胞中诱导凋亡的能力由caspase活性增加（caspase-3、7和10），DNA片段化模式以及Bax和p53基因表达上调证明。生物活性部分对人外周血淋巴细胞无毒。高效液相色谱 对CF4馏分的ESI-MS和GC-MS分析表明，存在化合物十六​​烷酸，这可能与观察到的微小梭菌抗癌活性有关。微小梭状芽孢杆菌的甲醇提取物对雏鸡胚胎具有抗血管生成作用。可以得出结论，来自微小梭状芽胞杆菌的级分CF4是抗癌先导分子的有希望的来源。